this video, and the others like it going around now, really scare and sadden me. these people represent the worst of us, and when they start singing god bless america, i actually feel physically ill. their intolerance is revolting and the antithesis of everything good about the country for which they sing. and, as far as im concerned, palin is one of these people.
mccain is not, i dont think. he's been taking a lot of flak lately, and deservedly so, for stoking the flames of these people's hatred.
today it looked like he had had enough of that kind of campaigning. he told his crowd today that they didnt have anything to fear from an obama presidency, and that he was not an arab and was rather a decent, family man. crooksandliars has the video.
(lets ignore for the moment the fact that the woman said "arab" and mccain said no, he's "decent". because we all know that woman meant terrorist. "arab" and "decent" are not, in fact, opposites).
now a lot of liberal media types are saying that its too late, mccain stoked these flames, he shouldnt get any credit for now going back on his strategy, that this is exactly what he wanted people to think, and that he's only stopping now because its backfiring.
but he never looked comfortable when he was fanning these fires, even before today. he looks (and sounds) completely disoriented to me, like in the back of his head he was questioning if doing that was really worth it.
i think mccain really wants to be president. i think in that ambition, he took on the people who manufactured two bush victories, even though those people had strategies completely agaisnt what mccain originally stood for. i think, little by little, those guys pushed him to abandon the "straight talk express" values he used to exspouse. and he went along, because he really really wanted to be president, because he honestly thinks he could do a good job. and as he continued to fall further and further behind, these guys told him to go after obama in more and more sleazy ways. and mccain honestly thought "these ads arent me calling him a terrorist, just questioning his judgment". or rather, he rationalized them to himself that way. and so, as is how i think all "evil" is created, little by little, over time, each action performed, rationalized, and then used as a justification for the next, mccain wound up doing some really horribly negative campaigning.
i think sometime between yesterday and today, he took a step back, maybe even saw the videos of what his supporters were saying, and his conscience kicked in, and he realized he couldnt let this keep happening.
i think that, probably because i want to think that. this is probably not based on rationality, this is purely hopeful on my part. because the other alternative is that Glenn Greenwald is right, and that mccain is backtracking on this purely because its backfiring in the polls at large (and i'm relieved for the entire country that it is). and if thats the case then he's just as evil as cheney.
i disagree with mccain on just about every stance he has. his views on war themselves disquailfy him for office as far as i'm concerned. but if he continues to defend obama from slurs he himself helped create, he can at least, in my view, lose this thing with some small amount of dignity. as of yesterday he didnt even have that chance. after all, today he was defending obama when he knew full well that he'd at least get booed at his own event for doing so, and maybe even possibly lose votes, all when he's already way behind.
i think he's taking some responsibility for what was pretty heinous, cynical, and outright evil campaign strategy. but at least he's doing something about it now. if he goes postivie for the rest of the campaign, i wont hate him forever.
if he comes out with a new attack ad tomorrow, fuck 'im.
today it looked like he had had enough of that kind of campaigning. he told his crowd today that they didnt have anything to fear from an obama presidency, and that he was not an arab and was rather a decent, family man. crooksandliars has the video.
(lets ignore for the moment the fact that the woman said "arab" and mccain said no, he's "decent". because we all know that woman meant terrorist. "arab" and "decent" are not, in fact, opposites).
now a lot of liberal media types are saying that its too late, mccain stoked these flames, he shouldnt get any credit for now going back on his strategy, that this is exactly what he wanted people to think, and that he's only stopping now because its backfiring.
but he never looked comfortable when he was fanning these fires, even before today. he looks (and sounds) completely disoriented to me, like in the back of his head he was questioning if doing that was really worth it.
i think mccain really wants to be president. i think in that ambition, he took on the people who manufactured two bush victories, even though those people had strategies completely agaisnt what mccain originally stood for. i think, little by little, those guys pushed him to abandon the "straight talk express" values he used to exspouse. and he went along, because he really really wanted to be president, because he honestly thinks he could do a good job. and as he continued to fall further and further behind, these guys told him to go after obama in more and more sleazy ways. and mccain honestly thought "these ads arent me calling him a terrorist, just questioning his judgment". or rather, he rationalized them to himself that way. and so, as is how i think all "evil" is created, little by little, over time, each action performed, rationalized, and then used as a justification for the next, mccain wound up doing some really horribly negative campaigning.
i think sometime between yesterday and today, he took a step back, maybe even saw the videos of what his supporters were saying, and his conscience kicked in, and he realized he couldnt let this keep happening.
i think that, probably because i want to think that. this is probably not based on rationality, this is purely hopeful on my part. because the other alternative is that Glenn Greenwald is right, and that mccain is backtracking on this purely because its backfiring in the polls at large (and i'm relieved for the entire country that it is). and if thats the case then he's just as evil as cheney.
i disagree with mccain on just about every stance he has. his views on war themselves disquailfy him for office as far as i'm concerned. but if he continues to defend obama from slurs he himself helped create, he can at least, in my view, lose this thing with some small amount of dignity. as of yesterday he didnt even have that chance. after all, today he was defending obama when he knew full well that he'd at least get booed at his own event for doing so, and maybe even possibly lose votes, all when he's already way behind.
i think he's taking some responsibility for what was pretty heinous, cynical, and outright evil campaign strategy. but at least he's doing something about it now. if he goes postivie for the rest of the campaign, i wont hate him forever.
if he comes out with a new attack ad tomorrow, fuck 'im.
